The Final Gift
by Alia G. L
Summary: The Doctor makes one final visit to Donna Noble, as he prepares for the events at Lake Silencio.


Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any characters associated with it.

Note: I don't know if this is really in character for the Doctor but I know he loved Donna very much and I think he would have given her the memories back at the very end. Hope you enjoy it!

The Final Gift

Donna Noble lived to a ripe old age. So old in fact that even the doctors were amazed. And it wasn't just the age. She retained her fiery personality and quick smile; it was as if age had only refined her more, not made her a shell of her former self, like what happened to so many other elderly. She outlived her grandfather and mother (no real surprise), her husband (who left at the nice age of 92), and even her only child, a daughter who passed away at 86.

The staff at the home Donna lived at were glad she still had some family who visited her. She had three grandchildren, ten great-grand kids, and an ever increasing brood of great-great-grand children. At least one family group was there a week, playing games and talking of the good old days. Donna lived for those days. She had become bed-ridden four years ago and while she was still completely healthy mind-wise, her body had finally started to deteriorate. It was inevitable, she knew. She was, according to Guinness World Records, the oldest person alive in the world. She had lived 131 years and knew it couldn't last forever.

ooooo

Nurse Mofe turned his head as a strange sound reached his ears. It was a high-pitched grinding noise, like some kind of engine was dying.

"Did you hear that?" He asked his companion, Nurse Smith. She shook her head.

"It was probably just the lift. You know how it likes to act up." Deciding she was right, Mofe went back to filling prescriptions.

Neither noticed the blue police box that had now appeared at the end of the hall. And neither saw the man, with a sad face and bow tie, who walked slowly toward the lift.

ooooo

Donna flipped through channels on the tellie, feeling unusually restless. Two of her great-great-grand kids had been there earlier and after games plus ice cream, they had left with her daughter's son. After all that activity, she had expected to be wiped out. But here she was, tossing and turning in her bed, nothing on the tellie pulling her restless thoughts to ground.

A small tap on the door made her sit up straight. A muffled voice asked for admittance.

"Come in." Donna whispered. A man entered and she gave a small gasp. He was of average height with thick, dark hair. He wore a bow tie and jacket. His eyes, an interesting shade of brown, were at once old and young. Donna couldn't place where she had seen those eyes before.

"Hello, Donna." He said, standing at the foot of her bed.

"Do I know you?" She asked. She wondered if maybe he had the wrong room. There was another Donna, three doors over.

"Once. A long time ago, you knew me. We were the best of friends. Then everything changed. Yet look at you now." He smiled, though it didn't touch his eyes. "Still here and sharp as ever."

"Um… thanks… is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, but maybe I can help you." He looked steadily into her eyes. "Today, Donna Noble, is the day you die. You die quietly in your sleep, or so the books say." Donna wanted to say something, anything, in response to this ridiculous statement, but she couldn't think of what to say. He looked at her with such sad eyes. He was familiar to her, somehow, but she didn't know from where. She felt a vague sense of unease followed by a strange desire to follow this man anywhere, despite his ramblings about her death.

"Do you want to die, Donna?"

The question hung in the air between them for a couple of seconds.

"Of course not. No one does. Why ask that kind of question? Who are you? Don't make me call the nurse. He can take you, you know." The man grinned.

"Good ole Donna. You never do change."

"Who are you?" She asked. But he avoided the question by asking one of his own.

"Donna, do you know why you are so sad? I can see it there, in the depths of your eyes. You are so sad and can't remember why. All your life, that one void spot in your soul. I know why you are so sad. I…" He hesitated, looking suddenly like a lost boy. "I'm going to die soon, too." He abruptly said. Donna looked at him, taken back. What could be wrong with one so young that he would die? He was not even in the prime of his life.

"And I want to give you a final gift before we both leave. One final gift between friends."

Donna wasn't sure what to say. He was some sort of mad man, that's what he was. One final gift? A friend of long ago? Rubbish. She'd never seen this man before. Yet he knew. He knew about the emptiness. The part of her that knew there was something more out there. Something that told her that her life had been more than ordinary. How many times had she woken, unable to remember strange dreams, with tears of sadness running down her cheeks?

Even now, tears were streaking down her cheeks. They were mirrored by tears in the young man's eyes. He moved and knelt by the bedside. His hand gently cupped her face and he rested his forehead against hers.

Peace. A peace settled over her, as if this was right. As if a part of her soul had finally returned.

"The choice is yours. You have lived an amazing life." He gazed deep into her eyes. "Maybe it is an old man being selfish yet again. Maybe I'm doing this for myself and not for you. But I can't let you die broken."

"You're not old." She mused, looking at his boyish face. A brief flash of an impish grin lit his face.

"Over 900, actually."

"Get out." And they laughed. Just like old times. And she froze. The Doctor. His name was the Doctor. She looked at him. Memories. Memories that killed. But she was old, with a full life behind her. Maybe he was selfish to be here. Maybe he couldn't live with himself for what he had done. But she was glad he was here at the end of it all. When she needed him the most. She didn't want to die, but she was ready to. One could live too long and she didn't want to be bitter. Or watch all those around her succumb to a death that seemed to pass her by.

"Doctor." She whispered. "It's time. Please, help me." He laid his hands on her cheeks. She felt his mind next to hers. He kissed her forehead gently. She felt her heart start to beat more weakly. Her body was finally giving up the ghost.

"Remember- Donna Noble- most important woman in the world- and live." Images, flashes of another life. The Empress of the Racnoss. Adipose. Ood. Agatha Christie. Sontarans. Vespiforms. The Daleks. The Doctor's twin. Her meta-crisis. She drew in a shaky breath as her life returned to her.

The man kneeling next to her wasn't her Doctor, the impossible man with the ready smile, trench coat, and impossible hair. But she could see him in this one. In the eyes and the way he had smiled. New body; same man. She grasped his hands in hers, as she relived the best years of her life.

"Doctor. Doctor." Her eyes glowed in happiness even as she winced in pain. Her mind was burning, burning brightly but burning fast. "Thank you. Thank you."

"No, Donna Noble, thank you." He kissed her once more.

And Donna Noble died whole.


End file.
